In early development, Marco Mejia, a gender nonconforming queer character at the center of the new series Glamorous – set in the cosmetics industry – was considered a The characters are much younger.
“Marco was still in high school, literally,” recalls Miss Benny, who played him on the show, which premiered in June . But in the four years the actor (and former YouTube star) has been on the project, “it’s been restructured and written multiple times, and it’s been shown on different networks [Netflix] — now Marco is like a brilliant gay,” said the Los Angeles actor, 24 , who grew up in Denton, Texas, had roles in Fuller House; Love, Victor; and American Horror Story. “When we were filming the pilot I had to shave three times a day to somehow look like me 17. And this time, they were like, ‘No, you can be yourself.'”
In this escapist stand-up comedy – “We The character never faced any homophobia or transphobia or any prejudice from the outside world,” says Miss Benny – Marco lives at home with his mum, who wants him to find a real job. He sells cosmetics part-time at a department store and posts beauty tutorials on his YouTube channel (which has a minimal following), and when he goes for walks, Madolyn Addison (Kim Cattrall
), founder of the eponymous beauty brand. Soon, he was hired as her second assistant.
When Miss Benny found out that Cattrall had been cast for the role (after the project moved to Netflix), “I cried because I was just so excited. She’s an icon “It’s funny,” explains Miss Benny, “because my acting style is very much based on her acting. Samantha Jones is contrived, down to earth, sexy and cool. I did an episode of American Horror Story and I tried to impersonate her a little bit – like, Sexy Camp – apparently, that was the clip they showed her when they said , “You’ll be starring with Miss Benny.” She obviously loved it, which was great because I paid her a little tribute there. So, it’s all been really crazy for me, full circle. “
Miss Benny and Kim Cattrall in Glamorous. Provided by Netflix
Miss Benny – she admits she loves TikTok a lot Makeup video (“I saw a makeup trend like dewy ballerinas and I bought it immediately at Sephora”)—saying they’re ecstatic because the show highlights characters like Marco, They have an affinity with him. “As a gender non-conforming individual, you face many unique challenges, especially when you were assigned male at birth and act very feminine,” they said, adding that the Many of the characters in the series are LGBTQ+.”Almost every character on the show is queer in a different way. I hope people will watch this show and hopefully give more opportunities to people like me and people like the rest of the cast because we had so much fun making it. What a great time.
Miss Benny, who is also a singer and recently released their first EP, Swelter: “I even Can’t believe we have to make this show, we have to be so gorgeous, so proud. It’s the colorful, campy, dreamy show I’ve been dreaming of. “
A version of this story first appeared in June Issue of The Hollywood Reporter Magazine. 2023 Click here to subscribe.
